Written Answers Friday 12 August 2005

Scottish Executive

Dairy Industry

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the Department for Trade and Industry in order to address any uneven distribution of margins in the dairy supply chain.

Ross Finnie: None. These are issues for those involved in the industry and the Scottish Executive continues to encourage all concerned - producers, processors and retailers - to work together to secure the long-term future of the industry.

Doctors

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) junior and (b) senior house officers employed in each of the last five years did not receive their degree in medicine from a UK higher education institution.

Mr Andy Kerr: NHS Scotland Workforce Statistics

  Senior House Officers and House Officers who Received their Medical Degree Outwith UK.

  

Headcount at 30 September


Level
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


Senior House Officer
525
525
636
726
762


House Officer 
52
88
49
54
146



  It should be noted that there has been a significant increase in the overall number of Senior House Officer positions available in NHS Scotland. Posts have increased from 2,021 positions in 2000, to 2,729 positions in 2004. This represents an increase of 24% over four years.

  International migration is on the increase and the market for healthcare professionals has become global. Individuals are at liberty to apply for a post for which they are suitably qualified from anywhere in the world. Appointments to medical training positions are made via an open recruitment process, for which those from overseas are eligible, and NHS employers do not give preferential treatment to any applicant on the basis of their country of origin.

Education

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many music instructors were employed in each education authority on 1 August (a) 1999 and (b) 2005; what instruments they taught, and how many vacancies there were for music instructors in each authority on 1 August 2005.

Peter Peacock: The latest information that is available on how many music instructors were employed in each local authority is shown in the 2004 Teacher Census. This can be accessed using the following hyperlink: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00416 .

  The other information requested is not held centrally.

European Union

Mr Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the case where the European Union has initiated infraction proceedings, referred to in page 17 of its May 2005 consultation paper, Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment.

Johann Lamont: The consultation paper refers to a case raised by the European Commission, who do not consider the current definition to fully implement Article 6(1) of the EIA Directive. The UK Government received a letter of formal notice, which is the first stage of proceedings under Article 226 of the Treaty, from the European Commission in October 2003. In the letter the Commission refers, as an example, to a hypothetical development situated in England but close to the Scottish border in order to illustrate what they see as a potential weakness in the transposition of Directive 85/337/EEC with regard to the definition of "consultation bodies". Consistent with the approach adopted by the ODPM on this issue, the Executive is proposing the changes outlined in the above consultation paper as a means of ensuring the definition is sufficiently transparent.

European Union

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of EU Council of Ministers meetings have been attended by Scottish Ministers in the last three years and whether it will provide a list of those meetings that were not attended.

Mr Tom McCabe: A record of Scottish Ministerial attendance at EU Council of Ministers meetings since 1999 can be found on the Scottish Executive website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/InternationalRelations/Europe/Page6 .

  To date Scottish Ministers have attended Council of Ministers meetings on 68 occasions. Ministerial attendance at Councils is an important aspect of the Executive’s European Strategy and, where appropriate, the participation of Scottish Ministers can play a significant role in promoting Scottish and UK interests. Scottish interests are of course represented at all Councils by the UK delegation. In addition where devolved issues are concerned the Executive works closely with the UK Government to ensure that Scottish circumstances and concerns are reflected in the UK’s negotiating position.

  Details of all Council meetings can be obtained from the Council of the European Union website at: http://ue.eu.int/cms3_fo/showPage.ASP?id=1&lang=en&mode=g.

Farming

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to give lowland farmers grant assistance for farm business development similar to that provided in the Highlands and Islands.

Ross Finnie: Such assistance has recently been made available. The Farm Business Development Scheme Variation (Scotland) Scheme 2005 (SSI 219/2005), which came into force on 1 June 2005, extended the scope of the scheme to allow the payment of grant aid for specific additional measures to support eligible farmers with the aim of assisting them to restructure or re-orientate their agricultural business. These changes offer farmers in other parts of Scotland the same opportunity to invest in their businesses as those within the Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme area.

General Practitioners

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many GP training places there have been in the last five years.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is provided in the answer to question S2W-17857 answered on 12 August 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

General Practitioners

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many funded GP training positions were made available in 2005, and how many there were in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Andy Kerr: The funding of GP Registrar (GPR) training places changed on the establishment of NHS Education for Scotland in 2002 when the number of places was set at 250. In 2002-03 the number was increased to 280 and has been maintained at that level each year including 2005.

  The number of doctors who were in GPR training in each of the last 10 years is shown in the following table. It should be noted that there is some movement around the number of places to accommodate those doctors who require flexible arrangements for GP training, e.g. part-time. For that reason, actual numbers of GPRs can exceed the number of places aimed for. Early indications are that there will be around 316 GPRs in 2005.

  

 
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


GP Registrar
278
282
234
240
274
284
261
283
284
281
283



  Source ISD Scotland.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) children and (b) adults have been receiving hospital dialysis in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information is set out in the table. Due to the small number of children involved, the data have not been split by age.

  

NHS Board Area
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


Argyll and Clyde
81
79
96
106
112
124


Ayrshire and Arran
61
63
77
87
95
97


Borders
14
15
16
21
19
22


Dumfries and Galloway
40
38
44
44
48
43


Fife
68
75
78
78
86
94


Forth Valley
46
59
63
70
77
78


Greater Glasgow
268
276
273
286
293
288


Grampian
96
106
128
150
135
150


Highland
28
32
46
53
69
72


Lanarkshire
115
128
142
161
168
162


Lothian
168
159
156
168
182
206


Tayside
105
99
94
107
116
121


No NHS Board reported *
7
9
11
11
14
48



  Source: Scottish Renal Registry.

  Notes:

  On grounds of patient confidentiality, the Island NHS Boards have not been included because of the very small patient numbers.

  * NHS board of residence is derived from the patient’s postcode. Some postcodes were missing. It is not possible to determine if these patients are receiving dialysis in their own NHS Board area.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-15784 by Mr Andy Kerr on 3 May 2005, how many (a) adults and (b) children have been receiving home dialysis in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Mr Andy Kerr: The number of patients in Scotland using home dialysis as treatment for established renal failure on 31 December for each year since 1999 is set out in the table. Due to the small numbers involved, the figures have not been presented by age or NHS board area.

  

Year
No. of Patients


1999
54


2000
51


2001
46


2002
41


2003
43


2004
43*



  Source: Scottish Renal Registry.

  Note: * The Scottish Renal Registry continually refines the data it holds, and the figure of 44 given in the Answer to the previous Question reflected the data as they stood at the time it was answered.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how may renal transplants there have been in each year since 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: The number of renal transplants carried out in Scotland in each year since 1999 is set out in the table. The figures include patients who received a kidney only transplant, as well as kidney/liver, kidney/pancreas and kidney/heart transplants.

  

Year
Cadaveric Donor
Living Donor
Total


1999
138
27
165


2000
138
41
179


2001
121
35
156


2002
114
31
145


2003
105
40
145


2004
94
30
124



  Source; UK Transplant.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients have been awaiting renal transplants in each year since 1999.

Mr Andy Kerr: The number of patients in Scotland on the active waiting list for a kidney transplant in each year since 1999 is set out in the table.

  

Year
No. of Patients


1999
491


2000
466


2001
455


2002
481


2003
433


2004
471



  Source: UK Transplant.

Higher Education

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of undergraduates entering (a) Edinburgh, (b) St Andrews and (c) Glasgow university came from (i) fee-paying private schools and (ii) state schools in each year since 1980.

Allan Wilson: The data available on entrants to higher education institutions from state schools are published annually as a performance indicator by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (formerly published by the Higher Education Funding Council for England). The performance indicator is the percentage of young (aged under 21), full-time, UK domiciled undergraduate entrants from state schools or colleges. The indicator has been published since 1997-98 and the most recent year for which it is available is 2002-03. The values of the indicator for the listed institutions are given in the table below. For comparison the same indicator is also provided for all Scottish and all UK HEIs.

  Table: Percentages of young, full-time, UK domiciled undergraduate entrants from state schools or colleges

  

Institution
1997-98
1998-99
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03


The University of Edinburgh
61%
66%
63%
63%
63%
66%


The University of St Andrews
60%
59%
59%
58%
62%
62%


The University of Glasgow
82%
84%
85%
85%
86%
89%


All Scottish HEIs
82%
83%
84%
84%
85%
88%


All UK HEIs
82%
86%
86%
86%
87%
88%



  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency.

  Note: For less than 10 per cent of young entrants, data on previous schooling were not available and those entrants were excluded from the calculation of the performance indicator.

  Further information on this performance indicator is available at the URL below.

  http://www.hesa.ac.uk/pi/default.htm.

Hospitals

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is aware of a proposal to reduce general surgery beds at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary from 75 to 48 and whether it has been consulted on the proposal.

Mr Andy Kerr: This is a matter within the operational responsibility of the board and therefore there is no need or requirement to consult the Scottish Executive.

  I understand from NHS Grampian that the changes are part of work to redistribute beds between specialties to match bed usage which, once complete, will deliver an improved service for patients. The transfer of resource between surgery and medicine addresses the current imbalance which results in some medical patients being cared for in surgical beds. The changes should reduce patient movements between wards during their stay, and specialties will be more appropriately co-located for effective and efficient working. The reduction in general surgery inpatient beds will be accompanied by the development of a new Short Stay Surgery Unit to support more day surgery.

Hospitals

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether NHS Grampian’s proposal to reduce the number of general surgery beds at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary has any implications for the delivery of the Executive’s targets on cancer treatment time.

Mr Andy Kerr: This is part of work by NHS Grampian to redistribute beds between specialties to match bed usage. The board is clear that these changes will have no adverse effect on waiting times, including those for cancer treatments, and that will enhance overall service provision. The redesignation of beds at ARI is part of ongoing service redesign which once complete will deliver an improved service for patients. The transfer of resource between surgery and medicine addresses the current imbalance which results in some medical patients being cared for in surgical beds.

Hospitals

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will discuss with NHS Grampian the proposal to reduce the numbers of general surgery beds at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and the implications which this will have for waiting times.

Mr Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-17686 answered on 12 August 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

International Organisations

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many meetings its officials have had with the Inter-American Development Bank.

Mr Tom McCabe: In 2005 the Scottish Executive has twice met with representatives from the Inter American Development Bank.

Justice

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S2W-17356 and S2W-16495 by Cathy Jamieson on 27 June and 23 May 2005, whether the implementation of framework decisions in general is reserved to the UK Government and, if so, what provision within the Scotland Act 1998 reserves such responsibility.

Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-17908 answered on 5 August 2005. All answers to written Parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa .

Justice

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of (a) reported crimes, (b) convictions, (c) imprisonments have taken place when motivated by drug use in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not available. The statistics available centrally on crimes recorded by the police do not distinguish the circumstances of the crime, such as the motivation of the offender. The statistics available centrally on convictions and custodial sentences do not distinguish whether the crimes and offences involved were motivated by drug use.

Justice

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what authority the police has to exclude members of the public from the courts.

Cathy Jamieson: Section 17 of the Police (Scotland) Act 1967 sets out the general functions of the Scottish Police and imposes on them the duties to guard, patrol, and watch so as to prevent the commission of offences against the law, to preserve order, and to protect property.

  The police must also comply with the lawful instructions they receive from Sheriffs Principal under Section 17 (3) of the 1967 Act.

Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what recourse is available to an individual if it is believed that the police has not sent sufficient information to the Procurator Fiscal to allow a fair assessment of whether or not proceedings should be taken in a criminal case.

Elish Angiolini QC: If the Procurator Fiscal considers that a police report contains insufficient information on which to base a decision as to how to proceed, he or she may instruct the police to carry out further enquiries. However, it is open to any individual to disclose information that he or she considers relevant to a particular case to the police or directly to the Procurator Fiscal.

Land Management

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to expand the current list of measures contained in land management contracts.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive intends to introduce Land Management Contracts in full from 2007. Work is on-going with stakeholders to develop Tier 3 and to explore any changes or further measures which should be added to Tier 2 (the Menu Scheme) for 2007. There will be some minor changes to existing measures within the Menu Scheme for 2006.

Marine Environment

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it expects to receive the results of the recent in-service demonstration sea trials of the S2087 sonar system fitted to the HMS Westminster which took place from 2 to 6 July 2005 and, if so, when and what the implications are for the marine environment.

Ross Finnie: The testing of military sonar is a reserved matter which falls within the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence.

  I understand the results of the recent In Service Date (ISD) sea trials of the S2087 sonar system are currently under analysis by the Ministry of Defence, and that the environmental analysis report will be available upon request in March 2006.

National Health Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-9961 by Malcolm Chisholm on 7 September 2004, how many patients had to travel outwith their own NHS board area for dialysis in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not collected centrally by the Scottish Renal Registry (SRR), which is the source for national data on renal dialysis. The figures provided in the answer to S2W-9961 were collected specifically for that question. I understand that the SRR Steering Group is now considering whether these data should be collected routinely on a routine basis in future.

  The SRR data suggest that the majority of patients who dialyse outwith their own NHS board area do so from choice.

National Health Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30537 by Malcolm Chisholm on 7 November 2002, whether it has any plans to review the criteria for eligibility for travelling expenses contained within the NHS Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges (Scotland) Regulations 1988 as amended by the NHS (Travelling and Remission of Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 1996.

Mr Andy Kerr: The criteria for eligibility for travelling expenses are contained within The National Health Service (Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges) (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2003 as amended by The National Health Service (Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2004, The National Health Service (Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2004, The National Health Service (Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2005 and The National Health Service (Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges) (Scotland) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2005. In addition NHS Boards have discretion to reimburse travelling expenses for patients who are not eligible under the statutory schemes where it is deemed to be an extension of treatment costs. There are currently no plans to review the criteria.

National Health Service

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30537 by Malcolm Chisholm on 7 November 2002, which NHS boards operate a scheme for reimbursement of travel costs of patients eligible for assistance under the statutory travel schemes where this is viewed as an extension of the patients' treatment costs and deemed clinically necessary.

Mr Andy Kerr: All NHS boards have discretion to reimburse patient travelling expenses where it is viewed to be an extension of treatment costs and is deemed to be clinically necessary.

National Health Service

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what energy costs have been incurred by each NHS board in (a) each of the last three years and (b) the current year to date, showing also year-on-year percentage changes and what projections have been made in respect of each board’s energy costs for 2005-06.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information requested is not held centrally. However, comprehensive information on energy costs and performance within NHSScotland is publicly available on the NHSScotland Property and Environment Forum internet site under the heading "Environment Reports" at: http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/pef/ .

Organ Donation

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what budget has been granted for publicising organ donation in each of the last two years.

Mr Tom McCabe: The advertising spend for the Organ Donation campaign for 2003-2004 was £143,858.00 and for 2004-2005 was £121,012.00.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-17266 by Cathy Jamieson on 24 June 2005, what interests the member of the Office of the Solicitor to the Scottish Executive was representing at the fatal accident inquiry into the death of James Barclay in HM Prison Kilmarnock in January 2002, given that the contract between Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd and the Scottish Prison Service indemnifies Scottish ministers and the Scottish Prison Service from claims made against them in respect of the prison.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  
A Sheriff hearing a fatal accident inquiry has a wide remit to consider the circumstances surrounding the death. The interests of Scottish Ministers were represented at the inquiry in case it moved to consider issues not the responsibility of Kilmarnock Prison Services Ltd.

Scottish Executive Expenditure

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spent on the purchase of alcoholic drink in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is not held centrally.

Scottish Executive Expenditure

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on external media relations in each year since 1999.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive contracted PR agencies direct from the 1 August 2004. (News release of 12 August 2004 refers, obtainable from the Scottish Executive website). Prior to this date, PR related work was sub contracted via the creative advertising agencies on the Scottish Executive contract. To identify such expenditure prior to 1 August 2004 could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

  The four PR agencies contracted by the Scottish Executive since 1 August 2004 are used to promote Scottish Executive public information campaigns and do not act in any other corporate capacity on behalf of the Executive. The contracted agencies are: Barkers; Citigate SMARTS; Consolidated Communications; The Big Partnership.

  Expenditure in 2004-05 was £904,098.

Scottish Executive Publications

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list the publications that it issued since 1 April 2004, giving the (a) circulation, (b) cost and (c) purpose of each publication.

Mr Tom McCabe: A list of Scottish Executive publications and their costs since 1999 is given in Scottish Executive List of Publications/Costs 1 April 2004 – 30 June 2005 , a copy of which has been placed in the Parliament’s reference centre under (Bib. number 37172).

  There is currently no central record held on the circulation and the purpose of each publication and this could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Special Advisers

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the changes recently announced by Her Majesty’s Government in respect of the code of conduct governing special advisers and their relationship to civil servants applies to special advisers and civil servants working for the Executive and, if so, whether it will provide details of such changes.

Mr Tom McCabe: Yes, the changes will apply in the Scottish Executive.

  The civil service Order in Council governing the appointment of special advisers has been amended to the effect that special advisers are appointed to provide "assistance" to Ministers. Previously the word used was "advice". There is however no change to the fundamental principle that special advisers can only commission work from civil servants on behalf of their Minister.

  The change of wording has been reflected in a revision to the code of conduct for special advisers which forms part of the model contract for special advisers in the Scottish Executive. The change was recommended by the Public Administration Select Committee and accepted by the Government. A copy of both the revised code and the model contract has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Transport

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-16673 by Nicol Stephen on 3 June 2005 and following the decision on Dumfries and Galloway, whether it will allow any other local authorities to form unitary regional transport partnerships.

Tavish Scott: The Executive’s proposals for the boundaries of the future regional transport partnerships were set out in a draft order sent to the Local Government and Transport Committee on 5 April 2005. In line with the Committee’s stage 1 report on the Transport (Scotland) Bill 2004, the only single-authority partnership foreseen by the draft order would cover the territory of Dumfries and Galloway Council.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Scottish Parliament Equipment

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the total expenditure on IT equipment and software supplies has been in each year since 1999.

John Scott (on behalf of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body): The total investment made per financial year on IT equipment and software supplies to enable and support the business of the Parliament, its Members, Members’ staff and SPCB staff since 1999, is listed in the table below.

  

Financial Year
Hardware and Software Costs


1999-2000
£1,176,754.71


2000-2001
£974,352.92


2001-2002
£1,900,029.36


2002-2003
£1,221,890.35


2003-2004
£1,795,359.23


2004-2005
£901,039.41


2005-2006 (Q1)
£142,088.59